Santa Claus:
Where Did That Guy in the Red Suit Come From?

The origin of Santa Claus depends on which country's story you choose
to adopt. Santa Claus comes from the Dutch words "Sinter Klaas",
which is what they call their favorite saint, St. Nicholas. He is
said to have died on December 6, A.D. 342. December 6th is celebrated
as his feast day, and in many countries this is the day he arrives
with his presents and punishments.

Nicholas lived in what is now called Turkey. He was born about
A.D. 280 in the town of Patras. His parents were wealthy and he
was well educated. Nicholas seems to have had a remarkable childhood.
While still a young boy he was made Bishop of Myra, and because
of this he has been known ever since as the Boy Bishop. He was renowned
for his extreme kindness and generosity – often going out
at night and taking presents to the needy. Santa's rise to fame
can be traced to two legends – the three daughters and the
children at the Inn.

The Three Daughters

The first story shows his generosity. There were three unmarried
girls living in Patras who came from a respectable family, but they
could not get married because their father had lost all his money
and had no dowries for the girls. The only thing the father thought
he could do was to sell them when they reached the age to marry.
Hearing of the imminent fate, Nicholas secretly delivered a bag
of gold to the eldest daughter, who was at the right age for marriage
but had despaired of ever finding a suitor. Her family was thrilled
at her good fortune and she went on to become happily married. When
the next daughter came of age, Nicholas also delivered gold to her.

According to the story handed down, Nicholas threw the bag through
the window and it landed in the daughter's stocking, which she had
hung by the fire to dry. Another version claims that Nicholas dropped
the bag of gold down the chimney.

By the time the youngest daughter was old enough for marriage,
the father was determined to discover his daughters' benefactor.
He, quite naturally, thought that she might be given a bag of gold
too, so he decided to keep watch all night. Nicholas, true to form,
arrived and was seized, and his identity and generosity were made
known to all. As similar stories of the bishop's generosity spread,
anyone who received an unexpected gift thanked St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas and Children

Another one of the many stories told about St. Nicholas explains
why he was made a patron saint of children. On a journey to Nicaea,
he stopped on the way for the night at an inn. During the night
he dreamt that a terrible crime had been committed in the building. His dream was quite horrifying. In it three young
sons of a wealthy Asian, on their way to study in Athens, had been
murdered and robbed by the innkeeper. The next morning he confronted
the innkeeper and forced him to confess. Apparently the innkeeper
had previously murdered other guests and salted them down for pork
or had dismembered their bodies and pickled them in casks of brine.
The three boys were still in their casks, and Nicholas made the
sign of the cross over them and they were restored to life.

Where did religion come in? …

In newly Christianized areas where the pagan Celtic and Germanic
cults remained strong, legends of the god Wodan were blended with
those of various Christian saints; Saint Nicholas was one of these.
There were Christian areas where Saint Nicholas ruled alone; in
other locations, he was assisted by the pagan Dark Helper (the slave
he had inherited from the Germanic god Wodan). In other remote areas,
where the Church held little power, ancient pockets of the Olde
Religion controlled traditions. Here the Dark Helper ruled alone,
sometimes in a most confusing manner, using the cover name of Saint
Nicholas or "Klaus," without in any way changing his threatening,
Herne/Pan, fur-clad appearance. (This was the figure later used
by the artist Nast as the model for the early American Santa Claus.)

The Catholic Saint Nicholas also had a confusing past. He was a
compilation of two separate saints (one from Myra in Asia Minor,
the other from Pinora), both of whom were – as the Church
now admits – nothing more than Christianized water deities
(possibly related to the Greco-Roman god Poseidon/Neptune.)

After the Vikings raided the Mediterranean, they brought the Christian
Saint Nicholas cult from Italy to northern Europe, and there proceeded
to build Saint Nicholas churches for the protection of their sailors.
When, for instance, William the Conqueror's fleet was hit by a storm
during his invasion of England, he is known to have called out for
protection to Saint Nicholas. Although in those days, church services
only mentioned Saint Nicholas as the protector of seafarers, they
initially condoned a blending of the Mediterranean Nicholas myths
with some that had been attached to the pagan Germanic god Wodan
and to those of the even earlier Herne/Pan traditions.

By absorbing such pagan feasts and traditions, the Christian Church
could subtly bring in its own theology: in this case, establishing
the good Saint Nicholas, bringer of love and gifts, while grudgingly
allowing the presence of the Olde Religion's Herne/Pan, but only
as a slave to Saint Nicholas. Thus, in parts of Europe, the Church
turned Herne into Saint Nicholas' captive, chained Dark Helper;
none other than Satan, the Dark One, symbolic of all evil. His only
remaining tasks now were to carry the bag, scare maidens and children
into devout behavior, and drag sinners and pagans off to the Christian
hell. Yet, in spite of this character assassination, the poor masses
continued to see in this enslaved Dark Helper a reflection of their
own enslavement. He remained their Herne, thumbing his nose at the
Christian Church; a mischievous, nostalgic reminder of the days
of their own free and lusty pagan past.

In Holland and several other European countries, the Saint Nicholas
figure is still highly esteemed. He appears as a tall dignified
bearded white-haired old man dressed as a Catholic bishop complete
with cloak, mytre, and pastoral staff, a seemingly genuine Catholic
saint, but with a bizarre quite unsaintly habit of riding through
the skies on a white horse followed by his Dark Helper. It seems
that our Catholic saint inherited some of these customs from the
pagan Germanic god Wodan, who had also been a bearded, white-haired
old man, also dressed in a hat and cloak, carried a staff (or spear),
rode a holy white horse and dragged along the same dark slave/helper
on a chain.

The Dutch Sinterklaas brings gifts to good children, while bad
children are harassed by Zwarte Piet, the Dark Helper, who –
brandishing his peculiar broom-like rod – threatens to put
sassy young women and naughty children in the sack in which he has
carried the gifts, the idea being that he will take them away to
some terrible place in Spain (where Saint Nicholas, for no known
historical reason, was supposed to have come from). This, of course,
never happens since the good Christian Sinterklaas always intervenes
on behalf of the naughty child – provided the child promises
to better his or her ways. The bad (pagan) Dark Helper is then admonished
by Sinterklaas and ordered to stop threatening the children.

Next, Sinterklaas distributes gifts to all "who have been
good" (or until the twentieth century, to all "who knew
their prayers"). In exchange, the children are supposed to
leave food offerings for the saint's horse (usually hay and carrots),
placed in either a shoe or stocking. In some areas, a glass of gin
is also left as an offering for the good saint himself. When, by
daybreak, the offerings have disappeared and been replaced by gifts,
it proves that Sinterklaas has indeed paid a visit during the night.

We can clearly recognize in all this the lesson taught the pagans
by the Christian Church, here represented by Saint Nicholas: You
may enjoy your old fall/winter feasts, as long as you have learned
your prayers and become good Christians. You will then be rewarded,
but if you have not done so, you will be dragged away to hell by
your own fearful, pagan past and its representative, the dark Herne/Pan
– who is none other than Satan himself – unless you
repent, here and now!

St. Nicholas with a European Flair …

Nicholas' natural affinity with children led him to be adopted
as their patron saint, and his generosity to the custom of giving
gifts to them on his feast day. The custom became especially widespread
in the Low Countries, where the Dutch seamen had carried reports
home of the saint's generosity. St. Nicholas was, however, a tremendously
popular saint everywhere. Both Russia and Greece adopted him as
their patron saint, and there are more churches in the world named
after him than any of the apostles (especially The Netherlands).

In the European countries, St. Nicholas is usually pictured as
a bearded saint, wearing ecclesiastical robes and riding a white
horse. He carries a basket of gifts for the good children and a
batch of rods for the naughty ones.

In old Czechoslovakia, Svaty Mikulas was brought down from heaven
on a golden cord by an angel. When he arrived on Christmas Day,
the children rushed to the table to say their prayers. If they did
well, he told the angel who came with him to give them presents.

In parts of the Alps, "ghosts of the field" cleared the
way for St. Nicholas. Behind them came a man wearing a goat's head,
and a masked demon with a birch switch. In Germany, twelve young
men dressed in straw and wearing animal masks danced along after
St. Nicholas, ringing cowbells. At each house, after gifts were
given, the masked men drove the young people out and pretended to
beat them!

For the children of the Netherlands, December 6th is still more
exciting than Christmas Day, for then St. Nicholas arrives. His
arrival is celebrated and this is the day when children receive
their presents. The excitement begins on the last Sunday in November,
where everywhere can be heard the words, "Look there is the
steamer bringing us St. Nick!"

St. Nicholas traditionally arrives by sea and disembarks at Amsterdam.
He then mounts a white horse for a processional ride through the
streets. Clothed in a bishop's scarlet cope and mitre, he wears
white gloves and an enormous bishop's ring on his left hand. Black
Peter accompanies Nicholas. St. Nicholas' arrival is greeted with
cheers from the thousands of children and adults who line the route.
Supposedly the bishop came from Spain. This story can be traced
back to the sixteenth century when the Spanish dominated the Low
Countries. The doublet, puffed velvet breeches, hose and plumed
berets worn by his attendants – in particular Black Peter
– are another forcible reminder of that period. Black Peter
carries a large sack in which he is said to put all the boys and
girls who have misbehaved during the course of the last 12 months.
With bad kids in his sack, Black Peter then takes them away to Spain.

Immigrants to the New World must have recognized something familiar
in the little figure of St. Nick. His fur costume suggested Pelz-Nicol
to a Bavarian, and the little gnome-like figure Jule-nissen to a
Scandinavian. His elfish qualities rang bells with other nationalities
too, for example the Irish with their tradition of the "little
people". In many ways, Santa was recognizable for many people,
which probably helps to explain why he was adopted so readily –
a new, but familiar, symbol for a new country.

Gift-Giving Comes of Age

As in many other European countries, if presents were exchanged
at this season, it was usually done at New Year's Eve and they were
between adults rather than for children. In the 1840s, however,
there was an increasing emphasis on Christmas Day. This seems to
have happened for several reasons. The press – which now reached
a far wider audience – stressed the fact that Christmas Day
was the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Birthdays had always
been a day for giving presents and it was a natural step to celebrate
Jesus' birth by giving gifts on that day.

Before Christmas had been banned by Oliver Cromwell from 1644 to
1660, there had been an old custom of giving sweets and small presents
to children on Christmas Day. This had virtually stopped, but now
the custom was enjoying a revival, in part because of the many articles
that were being written in the Christmas editions of magazines about
the "old traditions" of Christmas. Another influential
element was that, just as in America, children were becoming a greater
focus in society, and it seemed appropriate to use this time to
give them greater emphasis.

The importation of the Christmas tree from Germany, and the accompanying
rituals of gift giving on Christmas Eve, gave further impetus to
the idea of presents. Santa Claus provided the final influence.
By the end of the century, Christmas Day was firmly fixed –
in England at least – as a children's festival and the day
on which presents were given.

Santa Claus, or "Father Christmas", came back into English
Christmas festivities when people were reminded of him from America.
This injected new life into the English Christmas and was the answer
to those who prayed that Father Christmas and his customs may be
restored "to some portion of their ancient honours".

Celebrations around the midwinter solstice had been used for gift
giving since Roman times. At the Roman winter festival – called
the Saturnalia because they worshipped Saturn as the god of everything
that grew – the Romans had a public holiday that lasted for
a week. Everyone took part in the feasting and games. Even the slaves
were made free for a day and allowed to say and do what they liked.
People exchanged presents; a custom called Strenae, as a symbol
of goodwill. At first, these gifts were green boughs from the grove
of the goddess Strenia. Later, gifts were given of sweet pastries
to ensure a pleasant year, precious stones, gold or silver coins
to symbolize wealth, and, the most popular of all, candles as a
symbol of warmth and light. As the Roman Empire spread, so did this
custom of gift giving to other parts of the world. Since the Saturnalia
marked the beginning of a new year, in most countries presents were
given on New Year's Day, not Christmas Day. The advent and spread
of Christianity caused the gift giving to be moved to other times
of the year.

In Germany, the packages of Christmas gifts were called "Christ-bundles"
and often came in bundles of three. There was something rewarding,
something useful and something for discipline. In the seventeenth
century, a typical bundle would contain candy, sugarplums, cakes,
apples, nuts, dolls and toys. The useful things would be clothes,
caps, mittens, stockings, shoes and slippers. The gifts "that
belong to teaching, obedience and discipline" were items such
as ABC tables, paper, pencils, books and the "Christ-rod".
This rod, attached to the bundle, was a pointed reminder for good
behavior. Another way of presenting gifts was the old German custom
of the "Christmas ship", in which bundles for children
were stored away. To some extent, this custom was also adopted in
England, but never with the same degree of popularity.

In the centuries before Santa Claus was well known, and still today
in many countries where he has not been widely adopted, the child
Jesus is the gift-bringer. He comes with the angels during the night,
trimming the tree and putting the presents underneath.

In Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, the child Jesus (el Nino
Jesus) brings Christmas gifts for the children during Holy Night.
He is found in the morning in the previously empty crib, and all
the presents are arranged in front of it.

The German name of the Christ Child is Christkind, commonly used
in its diminutive form Christkindel. His messenger, a young girl
with a golden crown who holds a tiny "Tree of Light",
brings the gifts of the Christ Child. Still today in America, "Kriss
Kringle" – deriving from the German Christkindel –
is another name used for Santa Claus.

Santa may appear under different names and in different guises.
For example, French children leave their shoes by the fireplace
on Christmas Eve so that they can be filled with gifts by Pere Noel.
In the morning they find that the shoes have been filled and that
sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have also been hung on the branches
of the tree.

In Sweden, the children wait eagerly for Jultomten, whose sleigh
is drawn by the Julbocker, the goats of the thunder god Thor. With
his red suit and cap, and a bulging sack on his back, he looks much
like Santa Claus as we know him. In Denmark, too, the gift-bringer
Julemanden carries a sack and is brought by reindeer. Elves known
as Juul Nisse come from the attic, where they live, to help with
the chores during Yuletide. The children put a saucer of milk or
rice pudding for them in the attic and are delighted to find it
empty in the morning.

The children of Poland receive their gifts from the stars, while
in Hungary the angels bring them. Children of Syria receive theirs
from the Youngest Camel on January 6th, which is Three Kings' Day.
The children of Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and
South American countries also receive gifts at this time as well
as on Holy Night, but from the Three Kings.

In Italy, an unusual figure is the gift bringer for children. It
is the "Lady Befana" or "Bufana" (La Befana),
the ageless wanderer. Apparently La Befana refused to go to Bethlehem
with the wise men when they passed her door, and she has been searching
for the Christ Child ever since. On the Eve of Three Kings' Day
(Epiphany), she wanders from house to house, peering into the faces
of the children and leaving gifts. On that day, the children roam
the streets, blowing their paper trumpets and receiving the gifts
which La Befana has given them. Her name comes from the word "Epiphany".

In Russia, Kolyada is the name for Christmas. The word is derived
from the old Roman Kalends, the celebration of the New Year at the
first of January. Kolyada is also the name of the white-robed woman
who rides a sled drawn by a single white horse from house to house
on Christmas Eve to bring gifts to the children. Kolya (Nicholas),
who leaves wheat cakes on the windowsills, joins her. The gift bringer
in Russia is also a legendary woman, called Babushka (Grandmother).
She is said to have misdirected the Magi when they inquired their
way to Bethlehem. According to another version, she refused hospitality
to the Holy Family on its way to Egypt. Whatever her fault, she
repented of her unkindness and, to make reparation for her sin,
she now goes about the world on Christmas Eve looking for the Christ
Child and distributing gifts to the children.

Santa Invades New York

In Europe, after the Reformation of the seventeenth century, the
feast and veneration of Saint Nicholas was abolished in many places,
including England, where a figure known as Father Christmas was
substituted. Father Christmas is a winter deity, white-haired and
bearded, who wears a crown of holly. The German settlers brought
their beliefs and stories about Saint Nicholas with them to this
country during the two great waves of immigration, in the early
1700s and the middle 1800s, and Hollanders brought their Sinter
Klaas to their settlement of New Amsterdam. As the English colonized
New York, they adopted their Father Christmas, who did not bring
gifts, to these traditions, and Santa Claus as we know him today
was born.

Washington Irving first described Santa's sleigh flying. The sleigh
was said to be pulled by reindeer – giving St. Nick an exotic
link with the far north – a land of cold and snow where few,
if any, people traveled and was hence mysterious and remote. The
reindeer, however, were not first told by Irving. In a publication
called The Children's Friend, a writer had described in 1821 "Old
Sante Claus with much delight, His reindeer drives this frosty night".
Washington Irving, in A History of New York, published in 1809,
helped create the Americanized version of this mythic figure when
he described the saint as "laying a finger beside his nose"
and dropping gifts down chimneys.

Clement Moore's "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas"
(popularly known as "The Night Before Christmas"} was
published on December 23, 1823. Clement C. Moore told of eight reindeer
and gave their names. Some scholars think that this poem was actually
written by Henry Livingston, Jr., and there is compelling evidence
to support this point of view. Perhaps Livingston had written a
poem that Moore adapted. Whatever the case, in the now-famous poem,
Santa is described as a "jolly old elf," with a team of
eight reindeer, who comes to children on Christmas Eve Day, rather
than December 6 or New Year's Day. One story recounts that Dr. Clement
Moore was inspired to draw the present day Santa Claus by a short,
chubby Dutch friend of his, who had sat by the fire telling stories
of St. Nicholas.

Thomas Nast is another contributor to the American development
of Santa Claus. Although he was born in Bavaria in the 1840s, he
came to the United States when he was six years old. He grew up
to become an editorial cartoonist and illustrator with flair; he
is credited with creating and popularizing the Republican elephant
and the Democratic donkey, the symbols of the two major political
parties. He is also considered the primary source for the way we
picture Santa Claus because of a series of drawings he did for Harper's
Weekly between 1863 and 1886. Not having the vaguest idea what Santa
Claus was supposed to look like, the Bavarian-born Nast drew Santa
Claus as the winter holiday figure he remembered from the mountain
villages in his Bavarian Alps; a rather scary, less-than-friendly
gnome, dressed in animal skins and carrying a short broom-like rod
with which to threaten girls and boys.

Over the years, Nast's Santa became a bit friendlier, until, in
1931, the Coca-Cola Company decided that they wanted to increase
their sales to children. The law at the time did not allow advertisements
showing children drinking Coca-Cola, so how about showing a friendlier
Santa Claus, relaxing with a Coke served to him by children? The
artist Haddon Sundblom was assigned to come up with a new, more
commercial Santa. Instead of Moore's elf or Nast's grumpy gnome,
Sundblom came up with a large, jolly fellow in the well-known, bright
red suit with white fur trim (the Coca-Cola colors).

Together, Irving, Moore, Nast and Sundblom are largely responsible
for the way we in America envision Santa Claus.